Topps revealed the basics on 2014 Bowman Platinum on Tuesday, with the prospecting line back for the fifth year in a row packing the familiar two autographed prospect Refractors and one autographed Relic per 20-pack hobby box.

You might not be able to answer that one unless you live outside of the United States as that is an MLB card release specifically made for Asian markets — a move that began with the arrival of Bowman Sterling late last year. Why? The arrival of a rather popular Japanese star in MLB … you know, Yu Darvish.

While that was a product packaged separately from the rest of the 2012 Bowman Sterling run, this one’s a bit different — buying in Japan is the only way to initially get your hands on these cards. Here’s where Dave & Adam’s Card World and GTS Distribution come in.

If you’ve ever hounded for autographs, you probably have a favorite story.

We want to hear it.

For the upcoming Autographs Issue of Beckett Sports Card Monthly, we’re setting aside space to showcase some interesting stories from autograph collectors who do their hunting the old-fashioned way — with a pen in hand — instead of a mouse click.

In an era of fabricated power numbers and mind-boggling moonshots, Tony LaRussa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre made their indelible mark on baseball by calling the shots from the dugout. The trio enjoyed lengthy careers as big-league skippers, so it should come to nobody’s surprise that the game’s third-, fourth- and fifth-winningest managers of all time were elected into the Hall of Fame on Monday.

What’s cool about their elections by the Veterans Committee is they will all enter Cooperstown at the same time. They may be going in as part of the special “Expansion Era” election, but their records are all among the greatest ever.

Topps recently released the basic breakdowns and information for 2014 Topps Series 2, the second installment of its flagship baseball card product that arrives in January. Its update will arrive on June 13 with one autograph or memorabilia card in every 36-pack hobby box or one autograph and two Relics in every 10-pack HTA Jumbo box.

Series 2 will continue where the first installment leaves off with 330 more base cards and a number of parallels for every card. There will be the customary Gold (/2,014), Camo (/99), Black (hobby-only /63), Pink (/50), 1/1 Platinum, Red Hot foil (six per standard box), Clear (/10) and 1/1 printing plates to chase. There also will be silks for some players with those limited to 50.

Exquisite Collection Basketball is known for its high-end hits of Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

However, not every autograph featured in 2012-13 Exquisite Collection was one of Upper Deck’s exclusive basketball signers. There are several non-basketball autographs in Exquisite such as key players in racing, baseball, golf and hockey.

Exquisite Collection Sports Autographs features six autographs of athletes from different sports.

Here, you’ll find a gallery of first-day finds — some of the big stuff, of course, has not yet surfaced. Let us know what you think of what you see so far in the comments below or show off what you think is of note.

Some time ago, on paper, the upcoming issue of Beckett Baseball was planned as a break from the norm — an issue with a vintage focus that would take a look back at some of the cooler baseball cards and sets from the past.

Why? Why not, since it’s firmly the off-season on the field?

Instead, plans changed some as the wave of new cardboard-makers had other ideas with their plans for 2014 with product announcements and surprise inclusions that we know most readers will want to know about. You’ve seen some of them here lately on Beckett.com. This month’s news items are surprises that I still might not believe until they arrive — things that might have seemed like they came off of wish lists.

Well, off mine, anyway — but I’d bet some of you will be interested in them, too.

With Topps‘ first high-end Barclays Premier League soccer product set to arrive late this month, the company has come up with an incentive for group breakers to kick-start their breaks of the 2013-14 Topps Premier Gold.

It’s giving away a pair of game-used Cristiano Ronaldo cleats to the breakers whose video gets the most views.

Four others will receive prizes ranging from free wax to other autographed items.

It’s one of the simplest presents you can get a card collector. Many of them probably shop on eBay for singles or even hobby boxes. A PayPal gift card will allow them to pick up anything they want.

2. A hobby box

Don’t be afraid to ask the collector in your family what their favorite sport is – then head over to a hobby shop and pick up a hobby box of their sport. Many of these will be in the $100 range. Most hobby shops clerks are willing to help you pick the right box, but the important information is usually listed on the sides of the boxes. It will tell you how many packs, autographs and what collectors can expect to find inside.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball and Beckett Sports Card Monthly magazines. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

Here’s a little play off the game “who would you rather?” but this time we want to know who would you rather collect?

Michael Carter-Williams and Victor Oladipo are two of the hottest rookies in the NBA. On Tuesday night, they both had triple-doubles marking the first time in history two rookies did it in the same game.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball and Beckett Sports Card Monthly magazines. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

The Seattle Seahawks look like the best team in the NFC after a convincing 34-7 win over the New Orleans Saints Monday night.

Russell Wilson has been tremendous this season with 22 touchdowns and just six interceptions in 12 games. On Monday, he completed 22-of-30 passes for three TDs and no picks.

Seattle’s 11-1 record has fans hopeful for a long playoff run … maybe even a trip to New Jersey for Super Bowl XLVIII. Meanwhile, collectors simply want to know when they will receive their long-awaited Wilson autograph cards.

Join Beckett Baseball’s Chris Olds for this week’s Chatter Up over on the Beckett Media Facebook page on Wednesday night at 8:30 Central. There will be prize for active chatters during the two-hour session.

The prizes? Well, it will be an all-autograph edition this week. Among the autographs that will go out to collectors will be Manny Machado, George Springer, Wil Myers, Josh Donaldson, Homer Bailey, Dominic Brown, Lonnie Chisenhall and Wade Miley.